Thursday, 29 July 2010

Harvesting and enjoying the food

This week my focus has been on a bit of tidying up at the allotments and eating the harvest!

I'm continuing to be thrilled by how much weeding the mulch has saved....and by the number of worms in the soil now. As I trimmed the edge of the grass path, and then turned over a strip of soil between path and bed I've been amazed by the number of worms..which are obviously loving the grass mulch that has spread onto this area (the blackbirds are always helping this process). So in two short sessions I've got half the garden done.We are now harvesting Carrots, Kale, Spring Onions, Lettuce, Fennel, Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes, Redcurrants, Blueberries and lots of Courgettes. The hens are particularly enjoying the Swiss Chard harvest, and we are benefiting from all that green goodness via their eggs.

2 comments:

Your kale plants look so very healthy. Isn't it amazing how much difference a little mulch makes, especially with the worms. It seems like you are having a pretty good gardening year as your harvest sounds very well rounded. I love that you mentioned benefiting from the greens via the chickens eggs. I think many people do not realize that that is one of the biggest differences between a store bought egg and one that comes from a chicken that you have raised yourself.

This morning the hens got some pea plants I'd removed from the beds. One of the best things about having them is I now have a great outlet for those courgettes that are threatening to turn into marrows - I cut them into big chunks and the hens think them a succulent treat.

About Me

I'm a woman living in rural Northumberland, in England. I work full-time and this blog is a record of my attempts to slow down so that I can appreciate the natural world, and enjoy each passing season...as well as becoming a little more self-reliant. I don't believe that our current way of life in this country is sustainable...so I'm trying to learn about growing some of my own food, and generally moving toward better choices.